Leonardo DiCaprio now has a beetle named after him

Famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio was recently immortalized with one more achievement after the long wait for an Oscar thanks to a group of thoughtful scientists who deemed it necessary to grant recognition to whom it is due.

Image: Leonardo DiCaprio

The environmental activist and film producer has been named Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi, not through the legal change of name process actually.

Pardon the confusion. That’s a new name for some previously undiscovered species of beetle.

Scientists who gave Leonardo the name described his “namesake” as measuring about 3mm by 1.5mm. The beetle was reportedly discovered at the base of a waterfall in Borneo.

“Tiny and black, this new beetle may not win an Oscar for charisma, but in biodiversity conservation, every creature counts,” Iva Njunjic, founder of Taxon Expeditions said at an event.

The beetle was named by staff at the Maliau Basin Studies Center, according to the Taxon Foundation, which trains ‘citizen scientists’ to help experts find and identify new species, Esquire magazine reported. Leonardo was given the honor of his humanitarian works.

Leonardo, 43, was celebrated, once again, at the 20th birthday of Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, an organization which has doled out more than $80 million to groups representing indigenous rights, conservation efforts and green causes.

The Wolf of Wall Street actor donated $1 million to the Wildlife Conservation Society at Russia’s tiger summit in November 2010. He has owned environment-friendly electric-hybrid vehicles and lives in a luxury home powered by solar panels.

However, his use of private jets and large yachts has attracted criticism due to their large carbon footprints.

In 2017, Leonardo was also named after a spider discovered in the Domincan Republic. Good guess. The name is Spintharus leonardodicaprio. His partner in Titanic, Kate Winslet, also has a beetle named after her. Other celebrities include reggae legend Bob Marley after a fish in the Caribbean. Queen Beyonce also has a horsefly named after her – Scaptia beyonceae.

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